Quinn, Emanuel announce loan for Chicago water pipe repairs

Gov. Pat Quinn joined Mayor Rahm Emanuel Wednesday to announce a $15 million loan to help the city rebuild pipelines that carry drinking water.

The 20-year loan will allow the city to replace about seven miles of pipeline and is aimed at helping speed up Emanuel's efforts to overhaul a water and sewer system that in some areas dates to before 1890. The funding comes from federal dollars and is part of the governor's Clean Water Initiative, a program designed to give out $1 billion in low-interest loans to cities across the state to improve water and waste infrastructure.

“We want to invest in water because it makes us stronger economically and it creates job,” Quinn said during an appearance with union plumbers.

Emanuel defended taking the loan from the state despite his successful bid to double water rates by 2015, which is estimated to bring in $110 million this year alone. The mayor said the money will help “accelerate” improvements to prevent water main breaks that in turn hurt homeowners and businesses.

“I want to do it faster, I want to do more,” Emanuel said. “There is more work that needs to be done.”

The loan will pay for 20 different city water pipe projects, officials said, including work on West Adams Street from South Homan to South Spaulding avenues and West 32nd Street from South Union Avenue to South Canal Street.

The event was a contrast from a joint appearance by the two Nov. 30, when Quinn suggested he was “very close” to an agreement to expand gambling in Illinois, including a Chicago casino, before the legislative session ended in early January.

Emanuel then stood up and offered a more measured response, not signing on to the governor’s timeline. Lawmakers adjourned last week without voting on a new gambling plan.